Melee Sorceress [1.3]

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Solfege
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Gfresh wrote:This is the weapon! I was able to socket it with 6 jewels. ( I wasn't sure if the cube recipie would work with a unique, as there isn't any documentation for it)

THE GRIZZLY IS INCREDIBLY EASY TO ATTAIN NOW!!!
Try to keep this quiet as long as possible, as its going to make the prices go up, but all you need to do is cube maltheals set together, and out pops
The Grizzly
! I'm still messing about with it, but it *seems* that it clears mobs faster than starhawk, but starhawk *may* be faster at dropping down boss hp.

Also, instead of
Empyrean Band
Empyrean Band
Ring

Required Level: 40
Item Level: 40
1% Chance to cast level 18 Singularity on Kill
(3 to 5)% to All Attributes
Maximum Life +3%
Maximum Mana +10%
(5 to 15)% Gold Find
, a good upgrade is
Empyrean Glory
Empyrean Glory
Ring

Required Level: 50
Item Level: 120
1% Chance to cast level 40 Singularity on Kill
(6 to 10)% to All Attributes
Maximum Life +5%
Maximum Mana +15%
15% Gold Find
. thoughts?

*edit* the stats of secret items is blocked... thats stupid. Here is grizz http://median-xl.wikia.com/wiki/The_Grizzly

Here is Empyrean Glory http://median-xl.wikia.com/wiki/Empyrean_Glory - basically double the stats of a normal exp ring.

Thoughts? Thanks!



Based on Grizzly's stats, I'd say Grizzly is more versatile than Starhawk, but Starhawk may still have the edge if you're going with a pure Elemental build. I think it just depends on how you want to play. Starhawk is still Melee Sorc playstyle. Grizzly looks more Unholy Melee playstyle.

Grizzly does look good if you wanted to go for hybrid Phys/Elemental damage. It has high native ED and good flat damage to satisfy Phys-based builds, and 2 “melee spells” for those pesky Phys/Magic-immunes. Terror Strike's bonuses also stack with both Baneblade and Moonstrike. Black Sleep could also make for an interesting playstyle if you had poison damage with a duration>4s (e.g. from something like Black Lotus Strike). But the fact it's a timered skill may cause problems.

Regarding Empyrean Glory, yes, it's better than Empyrean Band for this build every way. The only downsides to Emp Glory are its slightly higher lvl req and how hard it is to find. But the lvl req is irrelevant b/c you still have plenty of MO space for all the MOs you really want.

Just for a bit of “inside baseball,” there are things I don't put in the guide for a few reasons. Part of it is there isn't enough room (posts have character limits and I've already reached that limit in the guide). And part of it is the guide is only meant as a general teaching tool. The goal is to give players enough knowledge to figure out different gear+skill combos on their own by the end of their playthrough so they can build their own Melee Sorc variants. The guide is also geared more toward casuals who likely just want to play a build, complete as much of the content as they can, and move on to something else. And since items such as Grizzly and Empyrean Glory are incredibly hard to acquire during the course of normal play (outside the current season), I tend to avoid listing them as options. But there are plenty of things you can do to push this build farther.

And yeah, it is stupid to have the stats of “Secret” items blocked on the Forum if they're easily accessible via the Wiki. IMO, the forum and it's users have really been neglected recently in favor of Discord, the Wiki, and the new MXL Subreddit. I get why it's being done, but it still sucks for Forum Loyalists and Discord Deniers to miss out on juicy info.
Gfresh
Jungle Hunter
26 | 2
After a bunch of experimentation I realized a serious issue with the Grizzly. You can't use Baneblade with Superbeast active. Obviously you could still build around Chronofield, but I question how useful this is going to be. By not placing point into baneblade and the bladestorm tree, and just relying on the oskills from Grizzly as your physical damage output, you're saved a LOT of points to put into passives and summons. It's a complete skill overhaul that might not even really work, but it's worth a try I suppose. My next thing to try will be some Xis runewords, then lastly the new Chaos runeword.
Gfresh
Jungle Hunter
26 | 2
Solfege wrote:
Grizzly does look good if you wanted to go for hybrid Phys/Elemental damage. It has high native ED and good flat damage to satisfy Phys-based builds, and 2 “melee spells” for those pesky Phys/Magic-immunes. Terror Strike's bonuses also stack with both Baneblade and Moonstrike. Black Sleep could also make for an interesting playstyle if you had poison damage with a duration>4s (e.g. from something like Black Lotus Strike). But the fact it's a timered skill may cause problems.



If you cast baneblade while holding grizzly (so superbeast is active) nothing happens, if you cast baneblade, then weapon switch to grizzly, baneblade turns off when superbeast activates. The two skills are completely incompatible, which seems really... odd. I don't know what to make of it.
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Solfege
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I didn't even see the Superbeast Morph mod. So it basically works like Deathlord from
Lachdanan's Visage
Lachdanan's Visage
Banded Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (8973 - 10165) to (14769 - 16229)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 627
Item Level: 120
Mana Shield: 65% less Mana Drained when Hit
You may Only use Melee, Summon and Support Skills
Adds 200-300 Magic Damage
Adds 150-200 Fire Damage
Adds 150-200 Lightning Damage
Adds 150-200 Cold Damage
-30% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(161 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+(1000 to 5000) Defense
Socketed (6)
. That changes things. An entirely new build is likely necessary.

I have tried building oskill-based Melee Sorcs using Chronofield in the past. It sort of worked, but the results weren't great. That said, you could focus on summons and use Chronofield's -Enemy Phys Res and combine it with Frost Essence's boost to minion damage.

However, what if you just went totally nuts? I'm curious what would happen if you went all-in on spell damage and chose Witch Blood as your Uber skill. I think you could build a Melee Sorc in such a way that keeping yourself above 90% Life wouldn't be a major problem most of the time. But the line "Sorceress spells cast from a full life orb do more damage" makes me wonder if Witch Blood's spell damage boost would even affect Lemures or Blood Thorns.

Kinda wish I had this weapon in SP to test things myself now.

If you don't mind, I'd appreciate if you posted progress reports on your testing.

Would also be great if whoever wrote that description in the Wiki about Grizzly being "one of the best weapons, if not the best, for the Melee Sorceress build" would kindly explain why this is supposedly the case.
Unda
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Solfege wrote:Would also be great if whoever wrote that description in the Wiki about Grizzly being "one of the best weapons, if not the best, for the Melee Sorceress build" would kindly explain why this is supposedly the case.


http://www.medianxl.com/t7715p10-most-e ... tem#206352

Hue hue.
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Nice link, but what does it have to do with
The Grizzly
? They're talking about
Steel Punisher
Steel Punisher
Warp Blade (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: (172 - 187) to (332 - 358)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 400
Item Level: 120
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Area Effect Attack
Spiral Dance: +300% Bonus Magic Damage
15% Chance to cast level 25 ATMG Sentry on Melee Attack
+(1 to 2) to Sorceress Skill Levels
Adds 40-100 Damage
(15 to 20)% Life stolen per Hit
+(170 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
10% Deadly Strike
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (6)
.
Gfresh
Jungle Hunter
26 | 2
Solfege do you only play on single player? grizzly is very easy to obtain now, with it being the result of cubing maltheals set. Ill think about how I could build things and maybe come up with a viable alternative. By avoiding the melee tree entirely, except maybe fusillade? you save a lot of skill points. If you're on TSW you're more than welcome to take mine to experiment with.

I get the feeling just by looking at things and weighing my options, it's going to be more about shoehorning a semi viable build around an item that you just want to be cool, rather than having a good build idea, and tailing your gear to that. It will entirely depend on how effective the oskills are on grizzly. Maybe a lot of points into poison and lit, using miasma and hive? I'll experiment a bit.

*edit* the only way i could see witchblood working is if you used your physical attack to get massive life on hit... but whats even the point?
The thing is, baneblade and bladestorm are really the cornerstone of the melee sorc build. suddenly becoming a superbeast paladin casterbuild changes a lot... wait, does witchblood increase the damage of the oskills on grizzly? THAT could be viable. Build a HEAVY spell dmg build and use the oskills on Grizz buffed by witchblood and caster gear. You'd basically be the sorc version of an unholy caster paladin. It's not a melee sorc anymore really, but its... something?
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Solfege
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Mostly SP, but I ususally play MP the first few weeks of every ladder reset. Unfortunately, I have so little free time right now I had to skip it this time. IDK if I even have a character on TSW rn.

I'm sure Grizzly can be good, but it's a huge turnoff that Superbeast isn't compatible with Baneblade. I think the trick is gonna be to build a Sorc more like an Unholy Melee Paladin. It's just finding the right gear and skill combo. That may mean skipping the entire Melee tree, except maybe Blade Spirits, and focusing purely on maximizing passives and summons. Kinda like how Feedback Sorcs treat the Elemental trees. I'm curious what sort of effect Firedance would have on the oskills. You'll definitely have tons of extra skill points with Poison/Lightning, though.

Regarding Witch Blood, I know it's a crazy idea, but is it so crazy it just might work? That's what I'm curious about. The first real obstacle would be determining whether or not the spell damage boost affects Grizzly's oskills. The second obstacle would be having enough sustain to keep you above 90% Life. I'm almost positive the Fire tree would be a must there. And since Witch Blood gives LaeK, rather than LoA, you wouldn't need a Phys attack to trigger it.

Edit:
Did a quick test with Witch Blood using Shock Flower and Black Lotus Strike oskills. LCS damage numbers don't change for either skill when Witch Blood is selected, so I doubt Witch Blood will boost Grizzly oskills. I guess Chronofield it is, then.
Unda
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Solfege wrote:Nice link, but what does it have to do with
The Grizzly
? They're talking about
Steel Punisher
Steel Punisher
Warp Blade (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: (172 - 187) to (332 - 358)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 400
Item Level: 120
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Area Effect Attack
Spiral Dance: +300% Bonus Magic Damage
15% Chance to cast level 25 ATMG Sentry on Melee Attack
+(1 to 2) to Sorceress Skill Levels
Adds 40-100 Damage
(15 to 20)% Life stolen per Hit
+(170 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
10% Deadly Strike
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (6)
.


I know they didnt talked about Grizzly, but posted link cuz it sounded like you was asking about big fish. If nothing changed you are able to view history who edited what on wiki and then ask that person if he use same name on forum.
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Solfege
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Ah, ok. Thanks for clarifying. I totally missed your point.

So, can anyone post info to the Median Wiki (I have zero experience with Wikis beyond just reading them)? I wouldn't mind adding some info to the "Notes" sections on a few items.